Play on! —

Google begins rolling out Google Play revamp for Android

Yesterday it was just a rumor, but today it's the real thing.

It was only yesterday that we reported on the leaks, but it looks like Google has made it official. In a blog post on the official Android blog, Michael Siliski, group product manager for Google Play, announced the rollout of the redesigned Android marketplace for Android phones and tablets running Android 2.2 Froyo or higher.

Siliski says that the redesign is focused on being “simple [and] clean” and that it's meant to help users find content faster. We've done a side-by-side comparison to show the old Google Play store—a jumbled mix of images and text—next to the revamped version. The latter shows a nicely compartmentalized interface with a dedicated row of buttons at the top for the types of media that can be downloaded from the service.

The new design has bigger images that “jump off the page.” Content that belongs together is grouped together, and purchasing has been simplified so that it’s faster to check out of the Play store. Even individual categories have been given a makeover.

If you haven’t received an update to Google Play just yet (we haven't), sit tight. Google says it will roll out over the next few weeks.

Will they do something about the utterly mangled music app? Navigation is such an unbelievable pain in the ass that I wonder if there aren't some basic patents on "touch artist name to view albums" that they can't be bothered to pay for.

Will they do something about the utterly mangled music app? Navigation is such an unbelievable pain in the ass that I wonder if there aren't some basic patents on "touch artist name to view albums" that they can't be bothered to pay for.

The unconfirmed (and almost entirely unsubstantiated) rumor is that Play Music is getting a major update in 4.3 or 5.0

I feel as though the predominantly dark interfaces from versions past were driven both by a misguided attempt to look futuristic (look no further than version 3.0, Honey-TRON), along with the propensity of OEM's to use AMOLED screens where darker pixels use less battery.

I feel as though the predominantly dark interfaces from versions past were driven both by a misguided attempt to look futuristic (look no further than version 3.0, Honey-TRON), along with the propensity of OEM's to use AMOLED screens where darker pixels use less battery.

Predominately dark interfaces are not designed to be futuristic. They are easier on the eyes and save a great deal of battery on AMOLED displays. Something being dark does not make it "futuristic".

The new design is too bright and incredibly boring. It's like walking into the detergent aisle of a supermarket.

If you're having troubles with this APK, the redesign right now is only live for the US for now it seems, and if you're having trouble AND you're in the US, clearing data/cache for the app after it's installed will fix any problems you may have.

I feel as though the predominantly dark interfaces from versions past were driven both by a misguided attempt to look futuristic (look no further than version 3.0, Honey-TRON), along with the propensity of OEM's to use AMOLED screens where darker pixels use less battery.

Predominately dark interfaces are not designed to be futuristic. They are easier on the eyes and save a great deal of battery on AMOLED displays. Something being dark does not make it "futuristic".

The new design is too bright and incredibly boring. It's like walking into the detergent aisle of a supermarket.

Jeez you have sensitive eyes. Do you have photophobia? Does looking at a blank piece of paper hurt your eyes? Do you need to wear sunglasses whenever you go outside?

I feel as though the predominantly dark interfaces from versions past were driven both by a misguided attempt to look futuristic (look no further than version 3.0, Honey-TRON), along with the propensity of OEM's to use AMOLED screens where darker pixels use less battery.

Predominately dark interfaces are not designed to be futuristic. They are easier on the eyes and save a great deal of battery on AMOLED displays. Something being dark does not make it "futuristic".

The new design is too bright and incredibly boring. It's like walking into the detergent aisle of a supermarket.

Jeez you have sensitive eyes. Do you have photophobia? Does looking at a blank piece of paper hurt your eyes? Do you need to wear sunglasses whenever you go outside?

I do most of my web browsing/diddling around on my phone at night, in bed, in the dark, where white backgrounds are very annoying. The night mode extension for Dolphin browser only does so much. It hurts when you turn on on the device, and when you have been reading for an extended period of time. It's not per se the brightness, but the contrast with the surrounding environment.

Is this just a front page/screen redesign, or a complete UI overhaul that is going to unify all the Google Play Something apps? For example, does the media-type button panel remain in place, or a swipe away, no matter where you browse?

If so, this reminds me of the salad days of Web 1.0, when people endlessly debated whether eCommerce websites like Amazon should use tabs for navigation once they started selling more than just books, because they were bound to run out of space on the 800x600 screens everyone was designing for at the time (which they did, eventually, even though screen resolutions increased.)

Mind you, if they have fixed the bug that required de-registering and/or hard resetting to be able to download anything from the store, then I don't care what it looks like.

Will they do something about the utterly mangled music app? Navigation is such an unbelievable pain in the ass that I wonder if there aren't some basic patents on "touch artist name to view albums" that they can't be bothered to pay for.

I was confused by your comment and rechecked my music app.. I swiped to Artists, clicked The Strokes, all their albums dropped down that I could select or I could pick all songs.. I searched for The Strokes from the main screen, clicked, went to a list of their albums..

am I missing something?

edit: didn't actually make a relevant comment - I'm for the change, like it, looking forward to it.. It would be nice if they gave people a dark option though if they prefer it

Will they do something about the utterly mangled music app? Navigation is such an unbelievable pain in the ass that I wonder if there aren't some basic patents on "touch artist name to view albums" that they can't be bothered to pay for.

The unconfirmed (and almost entirely unsubstantiated) rumor is that Play Music is getting a major update in 4.3 or 5.0

I havent heard that, but sheesh thats one rumor i hope is true. Id like to use Play music for streaming, but i cant stand the app one bit. Its easily the worst app Google has.

Edit: Fuuuuuuuu They didnt bring back the previous purchases tab... Thats the one thing i want back.

Will you actually be able to find things on it w/o searching specifically for them?

EG:

Went to games. Looked through all categories. Was wanting specifically RPG's. Found a few "free to play" popular ones, but nothing striked my interest. Did a search for "Free Rpg"... suddenly things like Gurk, Dweller, Rogue / Angband, etc come up. Why wasn't I able to find that categorized under any of the regular game categories.

After that, I stopped using Play's categorical search. I just go right to the search bar to type in what I'm sort of looking for and sift through the results.

Will they do something about the utterly mangled music app? Navigation is such an unbelievable pain in the ass that I wonder if there aren't some basic patents on "touch artist name to view albums" that they can't be bothered to pay for.

Sad thing is, it used to have this in its first iteration. Everytime there was an update I dreaded what they'd remove that was actually useful.

Hopefully this new Play Store app makes it easy to see all the apps you've paid for. Yet another instance of a regression from Google that worked perfectly fine in older versions.

I was confused by your comment and rechecked my music app.. I swiped to Artists, clicked The Strokes, all their albums dropped down that I could select or I could pick all songs.. I searched for The Strokes from the main screen, clicked, went to a list of their albums..

am I missing something?

Play a song or open an album. Now try to go to the artist's listing. The infuriating thing was that it used to work! When playing a song (say from a playlist), I could click on the artist or the album name and immediately go to them. Some revision, maybe 6-8 months ago, removed that.

I was confused by your comment and rechecked my music app.. I swiped to Artists, clicked The Strokes, all their albums dropped down that I could select or I could pick all songs.. I searched for The Strokes from the main screen, clicked, went to a list of their albums..

am I missing something?

Play a song or open an album. Now try to go to the artist's listing. The infuriating thing was that it used to work! When playing a song (say from a playlist), I could click on the artist or the album name and immediately go to them. Some revision, maybe 6-8 months ago, removed that.

Seems they just changed it to make it a little more complicated (so they could offer you extra options, like adding the song to another playlist, remove, play an instant mix using the song as a base, delete, or even shop for more music by the artist/group).. Click the little arrow in the lower right corner of their box if looking at the list (if looking at the now playing card, click the three horizontal lines icon first) - a list should open, click "more by artist" - should bring you to a list of their albums you have

I wonder if there are more supported devices? It is a major pain in the behind that the Kindle Fire HD I received for Xmas isn't recognized by the Google Play store.

Amazon's version of Android is a completely different fork of Google's version of Android. Amazon intentionally does not offer Google's services on the Kindle because they want to lock you into their own. The Play Store will never be supported by Amazon on that device.

Will they do something about the utterly mangled music app? Navigation is such an unbelievable pain in the ass that I wonder if there aren't some basic patents on "touch artist name to view albums" that they can't be bothered to pay for.

The unconfirmed (and almost entirely unsubstantiated) rumor is that Play Music is getting a major update in 4.3 or 5.0

That doesn't make a lot of sense to me since it isn't tied to OS updates

Will they do something about the utterly mangled music app? Navigation is such an unbelievable pain in the ass that I wonder if there aren't some basic patents on "touch artist name to view albums" that they can't be bothered to pay for.

Speaking of....where's the F***ing queue!!!!You can put things into it, but how can you modify it?

Will they do something about the utterly mangled music app? Navigation is such an unbelievable pain in the ass that I wonder if there aren't some basic patents on "touch artist name to view albums" that they can't be bothered to pay for.

Speaking of....where's the F***ing queue!!!!You can put things into it, but how can you modify it?

...That's not what a queue is for.

(To see the queue, just tap the "list" (three horizontal lines) icon. That's your queue, which is also the current playlist, unless you've added stuff.)

I know I've been pretty astounded at how functional the music app is. Compared to the Eclaire days, it's a revelation. I was using something else (^3, Deadbeef, Winamp) for the last couple of years, but I finally tried it again, and I'd say it's pretty decent. Much better than an iPod, in any case.

I understand what people is saying about light themes hurting your eyes in the dark, but it also works the other way. Dark themes are better for low ambient light, but out in the bright sun they're not as easy to see. I think EVERY app should have two color schemes (dark&light) and the ability to switch between them easily, like Ars' website does

They still haven't added the one think I've been waiting for: the ability to differentiate between "truly free", "freemium", and ad-based apps. Why is it so difficult for put a tag in to shows the monetization plan being used?

They still haven't added the one think I've been waiting for: the ability to differentiate between "truly free", "freemium", and ad-based apps. Why is it so difficult for put a tag in to shows the monetization plan being used?

Is an app like Spotify "truly free", "freemium" or "ad-based"? It's free to download, it has a free trial during which you may get ads (for the service itself if nothing else) and they'll sell you a subscription.

I know that classification looks cut and dry, for games and somesuch, but it isn't really. Apps on Google Play aren't reviewed for those subtleties, and there's no automatic way for Google to find out. Apps (free and paid) may or may not have ads, ads may be provided by Google's Admob but may also use any number of other ad networks. Apps should use Google's in app billing, but that's only mandatory for products you must consume within the app. A subscription you can access on your computer, an mp3 you can listen on your iPod, an eBook you can read on your Kindle can all use a third party billing system. So there's really no way for Google to find out upon submission whether a specific app will show ads, or bill users at a later date.

The difficulty isn't in creating a tag, is in having developers apply the appropriate tag.

I understand what people is saying about light themes hurting your eyes in the dark, but it also works the other way. Dark themes are better for low ambient light, but out in the bright sun they're not as easy to see. I think EVERY app should have two color schemes (dark&light) and the ability to switch between them easily, like Ars' website does

Better yet, a system-wide 'day mode'/'night mode' switch that apps would respond to appropriately. One can dream.